In a reminder that shadows fall over the lives of the rich and famous, comedian Jay Leno has revealed that his 77-year-old wife, Mavis, suffers from dementia.
On Friday, Leno cited dementia as the reason he was seeking a conservatorship of his wife’s estate, according to NBC.
“Unfortunately, Mavis has been progressively losing capacity and orientation to space and time for several years,” the petition for the conservatorship states.
The petition wants the court’s permission for Leno to develop a plan for her will that Leno believes his wife would want done if she could.
Jay Leno has reportedly filed for a conservatorship over his beloved wife of four decades, Mavis Leno. https://t.co/7yKJi4FmGl
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) January 27, 2024
“As Mavis’s current condition renders her incapable of executing the estate plan, Jay has petitioned the Court to be appointed conservator of Mavis’s estate for the sole purpose of filing a petition for substituted judgment on her behalf in order to ensure her desires concerning the disposition of her assets upon her death are realized,” the petition said.
The petition noted that in their 43 years of marriage, Leno always handled the finances.
Court documents say that Leno believes his wife consents to the arrangement, and that she would not want anyone else to be named as conservator in his stead.
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“The conservatorship estate will not be funded with any assets and is being established for the sole purpose of filing a petition for substituted judgment to ensure Mavis’s estate plan is established and that Mavis’s future care is provided for under the terms of a living trust,” documents that were filed Friday said, according to Fox News.
“Jay is fully capable of continuing his support for Mavis’s physical and financial needs as he has throughout their marriage. Jay desires to execute an estate plan, including a revocable trust and will, which will provide for Mavis and Mavis’s brother and her sole living heir aside from Jay,” the document said.
A doctor’s report filed with the documents indicated Mavis Leno was suffering from dementia in November, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The LA Times noted that in a 2014 interview, Mavis Leno described meeting her future husband at LA’s Comedy Store in 1976.
“It was in January. … I thought, ‘Holy s–t! That comedian is gorgeous!” she said then, saying friends told her to ‘hang out at the Comedy Store and the Improv — you’ll meet people who can give you jobs.’”
Tenacity isn’t just the most important thing, it’s the only thing.
—Mavis Leno pic.twitter.com/lSjYktdIsO— Sanjay K Mohindroo (@smohindroo66) February 8, 2023
“The first time I went, they sat us front row center. That means you’re this far from the comic. And there was Jay,” she said.
She said she later went to the bathroom, which was near where comedians took their breaks.
“When I came out of the bathroom, he said, ‘Are you that girl in front?’” Mavis Leno said. “I said, ‘Yes, that was me. ”
